Communication apparatus, operation assistance apparatus, and operation assistance system

ABSTRACT

A technique controlling transmission and display of terminal information in accordance with a movement state and an operation state. A communication unit transmits terminal information including at least movement information of a communication apparatus to another communication apparatus, and receives other terminal information including at least movement information of the other communication apparatus from the other communication apparatus. A terminal information controller controls transmission of the terminal information from the communication unit to the other communication apparatus based on the movement state estimated by a movement-state estimation unit and the operation state managed by an operation-state management unit, and when it is determined on the basis of the terminal information and the other terminal information received by communication unit that an attention calling state has occurred, controls display information that causes a display to display attention calling information on the basis of the movement state and the operation state.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a communication apparatus forcontrolling communication and display of moving objects such as mobilephones, smartphones, and onboard communication equipment, an operationassistance apparatus, and an operation assistance system.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, widespread use of preventive safety systems such aspre-crash safety systems has led to a decline in the number offatalities in traffic accidents between vehicles, but the number oftraffic accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles remains high.Meanwhile, widespread use of smartphones has increased the occurrence ofaccidents due to users looking at the screen in order to operate theirterminals while walking or cycling, which has become a social problem.

To restrict such operations of terminals by pedestrians, Patent Document1, for example, discloses a technique for estimating the state of auser, such as stationary, walking, running, or moving by vehicles, andthen temporarily stopping operation of a program that is running,turning display off, or controlling input to screen operations.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid accidents between pedestrians and vehicles,studies are in progress on operation assistance using pedestrian-vehiclecommunication systems in which position information concerningpedestrians is periodically transmitted to call the attention of vehicledrivers. Patent Document 2, for example, discloses an example in whichthe timing of transmission of terminal identification information andthe output of information are controlled in accordance with the walkingtravel speed.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-032932

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-171445

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

With techniques such as disclosed in Patent Document 1, programs orscreens are stopped or restricted, having taken user activity intoconsideration, but the surrounding circumstances of users are not takeninto consideration. Thus, programs or screens are stopped or restrictedeven in such circumstances that there is no need to call the attentionof the users, possibly impairing the convenience of the users.

With techniques such as disclosed in Patent Document 2, the timing andfrequency of transmission of radio waves are controlled in accordancewith walking speed, and because all users transmit terminalidentification information, congestion of radio waves may occur or theprocessing load on a receiving terminal may increase.

The present invention has been achieved to solve problems as describedabove, and it is an object of the present invention to provide acommunication apparatus for controlling transmission and display ofterminal information in accordance with movement states and operationstates of mobile terminals such as mobile phones or smartphones, anoperation assistance apparatus, and an operation assistance system.

Means for Solving the Problems

The communication apparatus according to the present invention is acommunication apparatus for wirelessly communicating with anothermovable communication apparatus and being movable along with a movingobject. The communication apparatus includes a movement-state estimationunit that estimates a movement state of the moving object on the basisof information that includes movement information of the communicationapparatus that is detected by a sensor that targets the communicationapparatus for detection, an operation-state management unit thatspecifies an operation state of operations performed on thecommunication apparatus by a user, and manages the operation state, acommunication unit that transmits terminal information that includes atleast movement information of the communication apparatus to the anothercommunication apparatus, and receives another terminal information thatincludes at least movement information of the another communicationapparatus from the another communication apparatus, and a terminalinformation controller that controls transmission of the terminalinformation from the communication unit to the another communicationapparatus on the basis of the movement state estimated by themovement-state estimation unit and the operation state managed by theoperation-state management unit, and when it is determined on the basisof the terminal information and the another terminal informationreceived by the communication unit that an attention calling state hasoccurred, controls display information that causes a display unit todisplay attention calling information on the basis of the movement stateand the operation state.

Effects of the Invention

According to the communication apparatus, the operation assistanceapparatus, and the operation assistance system of the present invention,it is possible to provide an appropriate user with the danger of otherusers or vehicles approaching, by controlling the transmission ofterminal information and output of display information on the basis ofthe movement state of the communication apparatus and the state ofoperations by the user, and therefore to reduce accidents caused orsuffered by the user.

The objects, features, preferred embodiments, and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent from the following detaileddescription and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of a communicationapparatus according to Preferred Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a display decision table.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a transmission decision table.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a communication-function decisiontable.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a transmission-cycle control table.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a display-type decision table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of operations performed by a terminal informationcontroller according to Preferred Embodiment 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an operation assistance systemaccording to Preferred Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an attention calling transmissiondecision table.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of operations performed by a vehicle informationcontroller of a communication apparatus according to PreferredEmbodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of operations performed by a terminal controllerof the communication apparatus according to Preferred Embodiment 2 ofthe present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an operation assistance system thatincludes a communication apparatus according to Preferred Embodiment 3of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according toPreferred Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a table for use in control based on amovement state estimated by a movement-state estimation unit and mapinformation stored in a map information storage according to PreferredEmbodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according toPreferred Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration of thecommunication apparatus according to Preferred Embodiment 1 of thepresent invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the drawings.

Preferred Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of a communicationapparatus 100 according to Preferred Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication apparatus 100includes a sensor 1, a movement-state estimation unit 2, a useroperation I/F unit 3, an operation-state management unit 4, a displayunit 5, a communication unit 6, and a terminal information controller 7.

The communication apparatus 100 of Preferred Embodiment 1 is acommunication apparatus that is movable along with a moving object.Examples of the communication apparatus include a mobile phone, asmartphone, a tablet, an access point, a personal computer, and onboardcommunication equipment, but the communication apparatus 100 is notlimited to the examples given above. In Preferred Embodiment 1, one ormore communication apparatuses 100 constitute an operation assistancesystem.

The sensor 1 senses information for specifying the movement state of amoving object, the sensing information includes movement informationconcerning the communication apparatus 100 (e.g., acceleration,gyroscope, gravity, direction, and position of the communicationapparatus 100 and a position history of the communication apparatus100), and outputs the sensing information to the movement-stateestimation unit 2.

Note that the sensor 1 may detect a real-time measured value every timethe value changes, or may conduct detection in a fixed cycle. Examplesof the sensor 1 include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscopic sensor, aglobal positioning system (GPS), an azimuth sensor, a magnetic fieldsensor, a gravity sensor, an illuminance sensor, a range sensor, atemperature sensor, and a motion sensor. The sensor 1 is, however, notlimited to these examples. The term “sensing information” as used hereinrefers to, for example, acceleration, gravitational acceleration,angular velocity, azimuth, magnetic field, latitude and longitude,altitude, luminous intensity, illuminance, sound level, and frequency,but is not limited to these examples.

The movement-state estimation unit 2 estimates and recognizes themovement state of the communication apparatus 100, i.e., the movementstate of a moving object (e.g., a user who holds the communicationapparatus 100), by using the sensing information that is input from thesensor 1, which targets the communication apparatus 100 for detection,and sensing history information. The movement-state estimation unit 2transmits the estimated movement state and the sensing information tothe terminal information controller 7.

When the moving object is a user, the movement state estimated by themovement-state estimation unit 2 includes, for example, the user beingstationary (e.g., standing, sitting, or lying down), walking, walkingquickly, running, ascending or descending stairs, and not having thecommunication apparatus 100. When the moving object is a bicycle, themovement state includes, for example, the bicycle being ridden. When themoving object is an automobile, the movement state includes, forexample, the automobile being ridden or driven. When the moving objectis a bus, the movement state includes, for example, the bus beingridden. When the moving object is a train, the movement state includes,for example, the train being ridden. In addition to the examplesdescribed above, examples of the moving object also include amotorcycle, a taxi, an elevator, and an escalator.

Note that the movement state is not limited to the examples describedabove. The movement state may be classified according to travel speed,but is not limited to this example. An algorithm for estimating themovement state, used by the movement-state estimation unit 2, may beimplemented by, for example, extracting feature amounts from sensor dataand performing pattern recognition or machine learning. Alternatively,the algorithm may be implemented by using existing techniques or by theuser manually registering the movement state and performing patternmatching. The present invention is, however, not limited to theseexamples. In the present specification, the movement state may also bereferred to as “moving means” or a “moving medium.”

The sensing history information as used herein refers to, for example,information that is obtained by accumulating data received from thesensor 1 for a predetermined period of time, or past history informationdistinguished by pattern matching, or a reference pattern for use inestimating the movement state. The present invention is, however, notlimited to these examples.

The user operation I/F unit 3 may be an input apparatus such as a touchpanel sensor, hardware buttons, or software buttons and the useroperation I/F unit 3 receives various types of operations from the user.The user operation I/F unit 3 also senses the line of sight of the userwith a built-in camera and detects whether or not the user is looking atthe communication apparatus 100. The user operation I/F unit 3 is notlimited to a touch panel, buttons, and a camera, and may be implementedby using, for example, sound, motion gestures, the line of sight, orfacial expressions. The present invention is, however, not limited tothese examples. The user operation I/F unit 3 outputs the detectedoperation information to the operation-state management unit 4.

The operation-state management unit 4 specifies and manages theoperation state which is the state of operations performed on thecommunication apparatus 100 by the user, such as no operation, operationin progress, time elapsed since operation (time elapsed after latestoperation), and call in progress, on the basis of operation informationsuch as operations input from the user operation I/F unit 3 and the pastoperation history. The operation-state management unit 4 also notifiesthe terminal information controller 7 of the operation state managedtherein. While the operation-state management unit 4 manages theoperation state of the communication apparatus 100, such as no operation(state in which the screen is not being operated), operation in progress(state in which the screen is being operated), time elapsed sinceoperation (state in which a predetermined period of time has not elapsedsince screen operation, or state in which a predetermined period of timehas elapsed since screen operation), and call in progress (state inwhich the user is on a call), the operation-state management unit 4 mayalso manage active applications or applications running in thebackground along with the operation state. The present invention is,however, not limited to these examples. The operation state may beclassified into no operation and operation in progress according to thetime elapsed after an operation, or may be classified in more detailaccording to the time elapsed.

The display unit 5 may, for example, be a display screen such as aliquid crystal display or an organic EL display that is used for screendisplay of, for example, e-mails, browsers, moving images, maps, orgames and detects and notifies a screen or program being displayed tothe terminal information controller 7. The display unit 5 also displaysattention calling information for the user by changing display screensor changing ON/OFF of display screens in response to a display controlrequest received from the terminal information controller 7. The displayunit 5 gives a notification to the user by means of not only screendisplay but also audio or vibrations using a speaker or vibrator.

The display unit 5 may be implemented by the same hardware as the useroperation I/F unit 3 in the case of smartphones, or may be implementedby different types of hardware as in the case of heads-up displays. Thatis, the display unit 5 may be provided within the communicationapparatus 100, or may be provided outside the communication apparatus100.

The display unit 5 may also interrupt other active applications todisplay or utter the attention calling information. Here, the attentioncalling information to be provided may be simple information such as“Caution” or “Danger,” or may be specific information such as “Caution:Vehicle Approaching,” “Caution: Watch Out for Bicyclists,” “Caution:Watch Out for Pedestrians,” or “Caution: Intersection Ahead,” but is notlimited to these examples. The information displayed may indicate, forexample, text, icons, photographs, audio, and vibrations, but is notlimited to these examples. Note that the display unit 5 is rather thanmeans limited to display, and may be other means for calling theattention of the user, such as a speaker that emits audio, a vibratorthat transmit vibrations, or a medium whose feel changes.

The communication unit 6 transmits information that is managed andstored by the communication apparatus 100 to a peripheral communicationapparatus (another communication apparatus) 100. Here, the communicationunit 6 transmits terminal information that includes at least movementinformation concerning the communication apparatus 100 to the peripheralcommunication apparatus 100. The communication unit 6 also receives,from the peripheral communication apparatus 100, terminal informationconcerning the peripheral communication apparatus 100 (other terminalinformation). which includes at least movement information concerningthe peripheral communication apparatus 100. Note that the informationmay be transmitted or received directly from the communicationapparatuses 100, or the information from the communication apparatuses100 may be transmitted or received via a server.

The communication unit 6 may use mobile telephone networks such as LongTerm Evaluation (LTE) or 3G, may use LTE Direct or WiFi (registeredtrademark) Direct, or may use Bluetooth (registered trademark) orwireless LANs such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/p/ac. Moreover, thecommunication unit 6 may support either mobile telephone networks orwireless LANs, or may support both and switch between them or use themat the same time. The communication unit 6 controls a radio wavetransmission function by switching communication hardware ON/OFF, startstransmission of the terminal information, and switches mobile telephonenetworks and wireless LANs, which serve as communication media thattransmit radio waves, in response to a communication control requestreceived from the terminal information controller 7. Note that thecommunication unit 6 is capable of transmitting and receiving terminalinformation in the background even when the communication apparatus 100is executing other applications such as e-mails or browsers.

The terminal information controller 7 controls ON/OFF of thecommunication hardware of the communication unit 6, controls start andstop of the transmission of the terminal information from thecommunication unit 6 to a peripheral communication apparatus 100,controls the cycle of transmission of the terminal information, andswitches mobile telephone networks and the wireless LANs, which serve ascommunication media, on the basis of the movement state acquired fromthe movement-state estimation unit 2 and the operation state acquiredfrom the operation-state management unit 4. The terminal informationcontroller 7 also calculates the risk of collision or contact(determines whether an attention calling state has occurred) andestimates the state of awareness of the other party on the basis of itsown terminal information and the terminal information (other terminalinformation) received from the peripheral communication apparatus 100 bythe communication unit 6. The terminal information controller 7 furthercontrols contents, such as icons and text displayed on the display unit5 and audio. When it is determined that the attention calling state hasoccurred, the terminal information controller 7 further controls whetheror not to display the attention calling information to the user,controls whether or not to display active program screens, and controlsthe contents to be displayed, on the basis of the movement state and theoperation state, which are received respectively from the movement-stateestimation unit 2 and the operation-state management unit 4.

Here, the terminal information indicates movement information (e.g.,position, travel speed, and travel direction) concerning thecommunication apparatus 100 held by the user, personal information suchas age and gender, the movement state, movement means (the type of amoving object), the operation state, terminal type (e.g., mobileterminal, onboard terminal, roadside terminal, or server), a terminalidentifier, and time, but is not limited to these examples. The messageformat of the terminal information to be transmitted and received may benewly defined or may be an existing message format for vehicles, but isnot limited to these examples.

The terminal information controller 7 includes an information managementunit 71, a risk determination unit 72, a display control determinationunit 73, and a communication control determination unit 74.

The information management unit 71 receives input of and stores andmanages the sensing information detected by the sensor 1, the movementstate estimated by the movement-state estimation unit 2, the operationstate managed by the operation-state management unit 4, and the terminalinformation that is received from another communication apparatus 100via the communication unit 6 and that includes, for example, the sensinginformation, the movement state, and the operation state. Theinformation management unit 71 periodically outputs the terminalinformation managed therein to the risk determination unit 72, thedisplay control determination unit 73, and the communication controldetermination unit 74.

The risk determination unit 72 periodically estimates and calculates afuture traveling position on the basis of the positions, travelhistories, travel speeds, and travel directions of its own apparatus andof the peripheral communication apparatuses 100, which are managed bythe information management unit 71, and calculates the risk ofcollision, contact, and a near miss. When the risk of collision,contact, or a near miss has been detected by the risk determination unit72, the risk determination unit 72 identifies a peripheral communicationapparatus 100 for which the risk of collision or contact, for example,has been detected, and calculates the current relative distance and thecurrent relative positions. The risk determination unit 72 outputs therisk, the relative distance, and the relative positions to the displaycontrol determination unit 73.

When the risk determination unit 72 has detected a high risk ofcollision or contact, for example (when it is determined that theattention calling state has occurred), the display control determinationunit 73 determines whether or not to display the attention callinginformation on the display unit 5 or determines the contents to bedisplayed on the display unit 5, on the basis of the movement state andthe operation state, which are managed by the information managementunit 71. The display control determination unit 73 then controls displayinformation that causes the display unit 5 to display the attentioncalling information, for example, on the basis of the determinationresult.

The communication control determination unit 74 controls whether or notto transmit the terminal information to the communication unit 6,controls a transmission cycle for use in transmitting the terminalinformation from the communication unit 6 to a peripheral communicationapparatus 100, and controls whether to enable or disable thecommunication function, on the basis of the movement state and theoperation state, which are managed by the information management unit71.

Note that the information management unit 71, the risk determinationunit 72, the display control determination unit 73, and thecommunication control determination unit 74 may operate by sharing theirrespective managed information and calculated information, or mayacquire such information only at the time of processing.

Now, one example of conditions used for various types of control by theterminal information controller 7 of the communication apparatus 100according to Preferred Embodiment 1 will be described with reference toFIGS. 2 to 6. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6, the movement state to berecognized by the movement-state estimation unit 2 is assumed to be oneof states where the user is stationary (standing, sitting, or lyingdown), where the user is walking, where the user is running, where theuser is bicycling, where the user is riding a motorcycle, where the useris riding in an automobile (driving or riding), where the user is ridingon a bus, where the user is riding on a train, and where the user is notholding the communication apparatus 100.

The operation state that is recognized by the operation-state managementunit 4 is assumed to indicate the presence or absence of a screenoperation, the presence or absence of screen display, whether severalseconds or more has elapsed after the latest screen operation, whetherthe screen is currently being operated, and whether a call is inprogress. Here, the term “operation” refers to a screen touch, buttons,audio, motion gestures, and the line of sight.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, the tables illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6 areused as a basis to control ON/OFF of attention calling display, controlthe transmission of the terminal information and the transmission cycle,control ON/OFF of the communication hardware, and switch the type of theattention calling information.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a display decision table. FIG. 2illustrates a table that is used by the display control determinationunit 73 of the terminal information controller 7 to determine, on thebasis of the movement state and the operation state, whether or not toprovide attention calling display on the display unit 5. Here, the tableis referred to as a “display decision table.”

As illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, when the user is performing ascreen operation while walking, it is estimated that the user is notpaying attention to the surroundings and therefore the attention callinginformation is displayed. On the other hand, when the user is notperforming a screen operation while walking and the screen is OFF, it isestimated that the user is paying attention to the surroundings andtherefore the attention calling information is not displayed.

When the time elapsed after screen operation is within several seconds,it is estimated that the user is looking at the screen, and whenbicycling, has a low state of awareness to the surroundings, and thusthe attention calling information is displayed. On the other hand, auser who is riding on a train does not need to pay attention to thesurroundings and therefore the attention calling information is notdisplayed. In the other movement states and operation states, thedisplay of information is determined as illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a transmission decision table. FIG. 3illustrates a table that is used by the communication controldetermination unit 74 of the terminal information controller 7 todetermine, on the basis of the movement state and the operation state,whether or not to transmit the terminal information via thecommunication unit 6. Here, the table is referred to as a “transmissiondecision table.”

As illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, when the user is walking,running, bicycling, or riding a motorcycle, the terminal information istransmitted to the surroundings, irrespective of the presence or absenceof a screen operation, to notify the presence of the user to thesurroundings. On the other hand, when the user is stationary (sitting)or riding on a bus or train, it is estimated that the user will notencounter dangerous situations, irrespective of the presence or absenceof a screen operation, and therefore the terminal information is nottransmitted. In the other movement states and operation states, thetransmission of information is determined as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a communication-function decisiontable. FIG. 4 illustrates a table that is used by the communicationcontrol determination unit 74 of the terminal information controller 7to determine, on the basis of the movement state and the operationstate, whether to enable or disable the communication function of thecommunication unit 6. Here, the table is referred to as a“communication-function decision table.”

As illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, when the user is walking,running, bicycling, or riding a motorcycle, the communication functionof hardware is enabled, irrespective of the presence or absence of ascreen operation, to notify the presence of the user to thesurroundings. On the other hand, when the user is stationary (sitting)or riding on a bus or train, it is estimated that the user will notencounter dangerous situations, irrespective of the presence or absenceof a screen operation, and therefore the communication function ofhardware is disabled. In the other movement states and operation states,information display is determined as illustrated in FIG. 4. Note thatthe control for enabling or disabling the communication function ofhardware is not performed when the user has set to enable the function,and the control for enabling or disabling the function is performed onlywhen the user has set to disable the function.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a transmission-cycle control table.FIG. 5 illustrates a table that is used by the communication controldetermination unit 74 of the terminal information controller 7 todynamically control the cycle of transmission of the terminalinformation via the communication unit 6 on the basis of the movementstate and the operation state. Here, the table is referred to as a“transmission-cycle control table.”

As illustrated in FIG. 5, for example, when the user is performing ascreen operating while walking, it is estimated that the user is notpaying attention to the surroundings and therefore the terminalinformation is transmitted in a cycle of 1000 ms. On the other hand,when the user is not performing a screen operation while walking and thescreen is OFF, the terminal information is transmitted in a cycle of3000 ms to notify the presence of the pedestrian to the surroundings.When the user is performing a screen operation while bicycling or ridinga motorcycle, the cycle of transmission of the terminal information iscontrolled to be reduced to, for example, 300 ms or 100 ms, because of ahigh travel speed.

In this way, the transmission cycle is controlled to be reducedaccording to the travel speed of the communication apparatus 100, andthe transmission cycle is further controlled to be reduced according tothe operation state of the screen. In the other movement states andoperation states, the transmission cycle of information is determined asillustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a display-type decision table. FIG. 6illustrates a table that is used by the display control determinationunit 73 of the terminal information controller 7 to determine, on thebasis of the movement state and the operation state, the type ofinformation to be displayed on the display unit 5. Here, the table isreferred to as a “display-type decision table.”

As illustrated in FIG. 6, for example, when the user is performing ascreen operation while walking or running, the user is highly likely tobe looking at the screen, and therefore, control is performed to displayicons or text on the screen to call the attention of the user. For theuser who is driving a motorcycle or automobile, looking at the screencan pose a danger to the user, and therefore, control is performed tooutput audio to call the attention of the user . In other movementstates and operation states, the type of information to be displayed isdetermined as illustrated in FIG. 6.

Note that the communication apparatus 100 according to PreferredEmbodiment 1 may operate using at least one of the tables illustrated inFIGS. 2 to 6, or may operate using a combination of a plurality of thetables. The values in the tables illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6 are merelyexamples, and the present invention is not limited to these examples.

In the communication apparatus 100 according to Preferred Embodiment 1,the ON/OFF control of attention calling display, the control of thetransmission of the terminal information and the transmission cycle, theON/OFF control of the communication hardware, and the switching controlof the type of the attention calling information may be provided in theform of applications that operate in the background, may be performedsimultaneously with other applications, or may be performed standalone.

Operations will now be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of operationsperformed by the terminal information controller 7 according toPreferred Embodiment 1. Note that the processing performed by the sensor1, the movement-state estimation unit 2, the user operation I/F unit 3,the operation-state management unit 4, the display unit 5. and thecommunication unit 6 is basic processing such as detection ortransmission and reception as described previously, and therefore,descriptions of the operations using a flowchart are omitted.Hereinafter, control processing such as information display control andtransmission control performed by the terminal information controller 7will be described with reference to FIG. 7. It is assumed that all ofthe tables illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6 are used in FIG. 7.

The information management unit 71 of the terminal informationcontroller 7 of the communication apparatus 100 determines whether ornot information has been received from the movement-state estimationunit 2, the operation-state management unit 4, or the communication unit6 after startup (step ST101). When information has not been received instep ST101 (“NO” in step ST101), the information management unit 71 ofthe terminal information controller 7 returns to step ST101 and waitsfor the reception of information. When information has been received instep ST101 (“YES” in step ST101), the information management unit 71 ofthe terminal information controller 7 identifies the type of information(step ST102).

When it is determined in step ST102 that the received informationindicates the movement state or the operation state (“Operation State orMovement State” in step ST102), i.e., when the received information isinformation that is input from the movement-state estimation unit 2 orthe operation-state management unit 4 of its own apparatus, theinformation management unit 71 of the terminal information controller 7stores and manages the latest state of operation state or movement statereceived in step ST101 (step ST103).

The communication control determination unit 74 of the terminalinformation controller 7 determines, on the basis of the transmissiondecision table in FIG. 3, whether or not to transmit the terminalinformation to a peripheral communication apparatus 100 (step ST104).More specifically, the communication control determination unit 74 usesthe movement state input from the movement-state estimation unit 2 instep S101 and the operation state input from the operation-statemanagement unit 4 in step ST101 to determine, on the basis of thetransmission decision table in FIG. 3, whether or not to transmit theterminal information.

When it is determined not to transmit the terminal information in stepST104 (“NO” in step ST104), the procedure returns to step ST101 andwaits for the reception of information. When it is determined totransmit the terminal information in step ST104 (“YES” in step ST104),the communication control determination unit 74 of the terminalinformation controller 7 determines whether the wireless function hasbeen enabled (step ST105).

When it is determined in step ST105 that the function has been enabled(“YES” in step ST105), the communication control determination unit 74of the terminal information controller 7 requests the communication unit6 to transmit the terminal information on the basis of thetransmission-cycle control table illustrated in FIG. 5 (step ST106).

More specifically, the communication control determination unit 74 usesthe movement state input from the movement-state estimation unit 2 instep ST101 and the operation state input from the operation-statemanagement unit 4 in step ST101 to request the transmission of theterminal information on the basis of the transmission-cycle controltable in FIG. 5. The procedure then returns to step ST101 and waits forthe reception of information.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST 105 that thefunction has been disabled (“NO” in step ST105), the communicationcontrol determination unit 74 of the terminal information controller 7determines, on the basis of the communication-function decision tableillustrated in FIG. 4, whether or not to enable the communicationfunction (step ST107). More specifically, the communication controldetermination unit 74 uses the movement state input from themovement-state estimation unit 2 in step ST101 and the operation stateinput from the operation-state management unit 4 in step ST101 todetermine, on the basis of the communication-function decision table inFIG. 4, setting of whether to enable or disable the communicationfunction.

When it is determined to enable the function in step ST107 (“YES” instep ST107), the processing in step ST106 is performed and then theprocedure returns to step ST101. When it is determined to keep thefunction disabled in step ST107 (“NO” in step ST107), the procedurereturns to step ST101 and waits for the reception of information.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST102 that the receivedinformation is terminal information (“Terminal Information” in stepST102), i.e., when the received information is terminal informationconcerning a peripheral communication apparatus 100 (other terminalinformation), which has been received via the communication unit 6, therisk determination unit 72 determines, on the basis of the receivedterminal information (other terminal information) and its own terminalinformation, whether or not there is the risk of a near miss orcollision (step ST109). Here, as a method of calculating and estimatingthe risk of a near miss and collision, for example, future positions arepredicted from the past transition of positions and the travel speed toestimate the risk. Existing techniques such as a collision avoidancesystem for vehicles may be applied to estimate the risk of a near missand collision. Here, the risk of a near miss and collision may also bereferred to as the “attention calling state,” a “collision risk state,”“risky,” or a “dangerous state.”

When it is determined in step ST109 that there is no risk (“NO” in stepST109), the procedure returns to step ST101 and waits for the receptionof information. When it is determined in step ST109 that there is a risk(“YES” in step ST109), the display control determination unit 73 of theterminal information controller 7 determines, on the basis of thedisplay decision table illustrated in FIG. 2, whether or not to displaythe attention calling information (step ST110). More specifically, thedisplay control determination unit 73 receives input of the movementstate and the operation state of its own apparatus managed by theinformation management unit 71 and determines, on the basis of thedisplay decision table in FIG. 2, whether it is necessary to display theattention calling information on the display unit 5.

When it is determined not o display the attention calling information instep ST110 (“NO” in step ST110), the procedure returns to step ST101 andwaits for the reception of information. When it is determined to displaythe attention calling information in step ST110 (“YES” in step ST110),the display control determination unit 73 determines the type ofinformation to be displayed, on the basis of the display-type decisiontable illustrated in FIG. 6, and then requests the display unit 5 toprovide attention calling display (step ST111). More specifically, thedisplay control determination unit 73 receives input of the movementstate and the operation state of its own apparatus managed by theinformation management unit 71, determines the type of information to bedisplayed on the basis of the display-type decision table in FIG. 6, andrequests the display unit 5 to display the attention calling informationaccording to the determined display type. Note that the attentioncalling information includes, for example, text, icons, photographs, andsounds.

Thereafter, the procedure returns to step ST101 and waits for thereception of the next information.

While Preferred Embodiment 1 shows an example in which the terminalinformation controller 7 uses all of the tables illustrated in FIGS. 2to 6, processing may be implemented by using one of the tables, or byusing a combination of a plurality of the tables.

While Preferred Embodiment 1 shows an example in which the terminalinformation controller 7 controls the display unit 5 and thecommunication unit 6 on the basis of the movement state and theoperation state, a configuration is also possible in which informationthat indicates the movement state and the operation state is output tothe display unit 5 and the communication unit 6, and the display unit 5and the communication unit 6 perform processing, determination, andcontrol.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, the communication apparatus 100 may be aterminal that is dedicated to pedestrians or a terminal that isdedicated to bicyclists, or may be handled as a terminal such as asmartphone or a mobile phone that is usable in automobiles.

While in Preferred Embodiment 1, the display decision table isclassified into two categories, i.e., whether or not to display theattention calling information, the display decision table may be furthersegmentalized by taking the display size into consideration and adding,for example, small icons on the display. Moreover, icons may bedisplayed to indicate the directions in which attention should be paidor to indicate the types of terminals (types of moving objects such asautomobiles, pedestrians, bicycles, and motorcycles) to which attentionshould be paid.

While Preferred Embodiment 1 shows an example of displaying theattention calling information, active applications may be stopped oroperations may be disabled, in addition to the display of theinformation.

As described above, according to Preferred Embodiment 1, display forcalling attention to dangers and the contents to be displayed may becontrolled on the basis of the movement state of the user who holds thecommunication apparatus 100 and the operation information. It is thuspossible to prompt inattentive users to pay attention, to assist theuser in preventing delayed risk detection, and to notify peripheralcommunication apparatuses 100 of the presence of inattentive users.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, the communication apparatus 100 communicateswith peripheral communication apparatuses 100 on the basis of themovement state of the user who holds the communication apparatus 100 andthe operation information. That is, the communication does not involvescreen control or application control that may give inconvenience to theuser, thus improving user acceptability. Also, the terminal informationis transmitted when it is estimated that the user is inattentive. Thissuppresses unnecessary radio wave transmission, thus avoidingcommunication congestion and reducing battery consumption.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, ON/OFF of the wireless function iscontrolled, and accordingly radio waves are transmitted only insituations that require communication. This enables efficient use of thebattery of the communication apparatus 100.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, the ON/OFF control of the wireless functionincludes forcedly turning on the wireless function of a user whosewireless function is OFF, thus enabling the user to be prompted to payattention.

Moreover, in Preferred Embodiment 1, the transmission of the terminalinformation and the transmission cycle are controlled. This suppressesexcessive transmission of radio waves and avoids communicationcongestion.

Moreover, in Preferred Embodiment 1, the transmission of information issuppressed in low-risk situations. This reduces the processing load oncommunication apparatuses that are performing risk determination.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, for example, it is possible to determine onlycases where the terminal is held by a pedestrian or where the user isoperating the terminal while walking or running as situations thatrequire calling the attention of users, and for a communicationapparatus to transmit its own terminal information or display theattention calling information in such cases. This avoids unnecessarytransmission and display of information in cases where the user is notoperating the terminal or where the user is stationary.

Moreover, in Preferred Embodiment 1, it is possible to determine onlycases where the user of the terminal is bicycling or where the user ofthe terminal is operating the terminal as situations that requirecalling the attention of users, and for the communication apparatus todisplay the attention calling information in such cases. In this case,unnecessary display of the information is avoided when the user is notoperating the terminal. On the other hand, when the user is bicycling,the communication apparatus transmits its own terminal information toperipheral vehicles and the like, irrespective of whether the situationrequires calling the attention of users, and prompts vehicles to payattention.

In Preferred Embodiment 1, when the user of the terminal is in anautomobile or on a train, the communication apparatus does not transmitthe terminal information or does not display the attention callinginformation, irrespective of whether the terminal is being operated.This avoids unnecessary transmission of radio waves and unnecessarilycalling the attention of users.

While the communication apparatus 100 of Preferred Embodiment 1 isconfigured as illustrated in FIG. 1, the configuration of thecommunication apparatus 100 need only include the sensor 1, themovement-state estimation unit 2, the user operation I/F unit 3, theoperation-state management unit 4, the communication unit 6, and theterminal information controller 7. While in Preferred Embodiment 1, theuser operation I/F unit 3 and the operation-state management unit 4 aredescribed separately in order to handle the operation state of theterminal, these units may be handled as a single means.

Preferred Embodiment 2

In Preferred Embodiment 1, the communication apparatus 100 is assumed tobe held by the user. Preferred Embodiment 2 describes a preferredembodiment in which the communication apparatus 100 of PreferredEmbodiment 1 and an automobile equipped with a communication apparatus200 constitute an operation assistance system. The operation assistancesystem according to Preferred Embodiment 2 aims to assist drivers of theautomobiles in preventing delayed risk detection and to prompt driversto pay attention to users.

Note that the communication apparatus 200 of the operation assistancesystem according to Preferred Embodiment 2 of the present invention ismounted to a moving object, and is assumed to be mounted principally toan automobile in the following description. Also, the users holding thecommunication apparatuses of Preferred Embodiment 2 are principallyassumed to be pedestrians or bicyclists in the following description.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the operation assistance systemaccording to Preferred Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 8,constituent elements that are similar to those described with referenceto FIG. 1 in Preferred Embodiment 1 are given the same referencenumerals, and redundant detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The operation assistance system according to Preferred Embodiment 2 ofthe present invention includes communication apparatuses 100, thecommunication apparatus 200, and a communication network 300 asillustrated in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 200 differs from thecommunication apparatus 100 of Preferred Embodiment 1 in that thecommunication apparatus 200 does not include the movement-stateestimation unit 2, the user operation I/F unit 3, and theoperation-state management unit 4 and that the communication apparatus200 includes a vehicle information controller 8, instead of the terminalinformation controller 7. Note that the communication apparatus 200 inFIG. 8 has a similar configuration to the configuration of thecommunication apparatus 100 described in Preferred Embodiment 1.

The communication apparatus 200 of Preferred Embodiment 2 includes asensor 1, a display unit 5, a communication unit 6, and the vehicleinformation controller 8 as illustrated in FIG. 8. Examples of thecommunication apparatus 200 include onboard communication equipment thatis mounted to, for example, automobiles, motorcycles, buses, and taxis.The communication apparatus 200 may also be mounted to mobile phones orsmartphones as in Preferred Embodiment 1, and is not limited to theseexamples.

The communication apparatus 200 is connected to the communicationapparatuses 100 via the communication network 300. While FIG. 8illustrates one communication apparatus 200 and three communicationapparatuses 100, the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 include atleast two communication apparatuses, and may include a plurality ofcommunication apparatuses.

The communication network 300 is a communication medium that connectsone or more communication apparatuses 100 and one or more communicationapparatuses 200 via a wired or wireless network. Here, the wired networkmay, for example, be Ethernet (registered trademark) or optical fiber.The wireless network may use communication such as LTE, wireless localarea networks (LANs), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess), or GSM (registered trademark) (Global System for MobileCommunication). Note that the communication network 300 includes caseswhere communication is established via base stations or access pointsand where direct communication is established between the communicationapparatuses 100 and 200.

One of the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 of Preferred Embodiment2 may also be referred to as “operation assistance apparatuses.”

The vehicle information controller 8 of the communication apparatus 200basically has similar functions to the functions of the terminalinformation controller 7 of the communication apparatus 100 according toPreferred Embodiment 1. The vehicle information controller 8periodically transmits the terminal information by itself, irrespectiveof the movement state and the operation state, and presents theattention calling information to the driver on the basis of the terminalinformation received from the peripheral communication apparatuses 100and 200, irrespective of the movement state and the operation state.

The vehicle information controller 8 of the communication apparatus 200estimates the state of awareness of the communication apparatus 100 and200 that are transmission sources and calculates the risk of collisionor contact on the basis of its own movement information detected by thesensor 1, the movement information, the movement state, and theoperation state which are included in the terminal information receivedfrom the peripheral communication apparatuses 100 and 200, and displaysattention calling information such as icons, text, and contents on thedisplay unit 5. In Preferred Embodiment 2, the movement informationdetected by the sensor 1 includes control information that indicates acontrol state of at least one of an accelerator, brakes, and steering.When the communication apparatuses 100 and 200, which are transmissionsources, have a low state of awareness, the vehicle informationcontroller 8 requests the communication unit 6 to transmit informationsuch as attention calling information or a warning to prompt the usersof the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 to pay attention.

Note that the communication apparatus 200 may directly transmit andreceive information to and from the communication apparatus 100 and 200,or information from the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 may betransmitted or received via a server. While icons, text, and sounds, forexample, are given as examples of the attention calling informationdisplayed on the display unit 5, the attention calling information mayinclude moving means such as pedestrians, bicycles, or motorcycles asspecific targets to which attention should be paid, or may include theoperation states of terminal users.

The vehicle information controller 8 of the communication apparatus 200includes an information management unit 81, a risk determination unit82, a display control determination unit 83, and a communication controldetermination unit 84.

The information management unit 81 receives input of information thatthe communication unit 6 has received from the surrounding communicationapparatus 100 and 200. Unlike the information management unit 71 of thecommunication apparatus 100, the information management unit 81 does notmanage the movement state and the operation state of its own apparatus.

The risk determination unit 82 periodically estimates and calculates afuture traveling position and calculates the risk of collision, contact,or a near miss (determines whether the attention calling state hasoccurred) on the basis of movement information, the movement state, andthe operation state included in the terminal information received fromthe peripheral communication apparatuses 100 and 200, and the movementinformation (position information) concerning its own apparatus. Whenthe risk of collision, contact, or a near miss has been detected, therisk determination unit 82 specifies the corresponding communicationapparatus 100, 200 and calculates a current relative distance andcurrent relative positions. The risk determination unit 82 outputs therisk, the relative distance, and the relative positions to the displaycontrol determination unit 83.

When the risk determination unit 82 has detected a high risk ofcollision, contact, or a near miss, the display control determinationunit 83 determines to display the attention calling information on thebasis of the movement state and the operation state that are receivedfrom the peripheral communication apparatus 100, 200. Since the displaycontrol determination unit 83 is assumed to be mounted to a vehicle, theattention calling information is assumed to be audio or icons, forexample.

When the attention calling information has been received from theperipheral communication apparatuses 100 and 200, the display controldetermination unit 83 determines whether or not to display the attentioncalling information, on the basis of the movement state and theoperation state of the peripheral communication apparatus 100, 200 thatthe information management unit 81 has received from the peripheralcommunication apparatuses 100 and 200.

The communication control determination unit 84 transmits the terminalinformation regularly, unlike the communication control determinationunit 74 of the communication apparatus 100. Thus, the communicationcontrol determination unit 84 does not control whether or not totransmit information, the transmission cycle, or whether to enable ordisable the communication function.

When the risk determination unit 82 has detected a high risk of acollision or contact, the communication control determination unit 84determines whether or not to transmit the attention calling informationto the communication apparatus 100 or 200 targeted as a risk, and whenthere is a risk, requests the communication unit 6 to transmit theattention calling information.

The communication units 6 of the communication apparatuses 100 and 200of Preferred Embodiment 2 may use, as a message format or data set ofthe terminal information to be transmitted or received, formats such asCooperative Awareness Message (CAM) and Decentralized EnvironmentalNotification Message (DENM) that are standardized by ETSI EN 302-637 inEurope, or may use formats for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) thatare standardized by SAE J2735 in North America.

The communication units 6 store information such as the movement statesand the operation states in a reserved partition or extended partitionin the standard message format, and transmit and receive theinformation. In this way, the vehicle information controller 8 iscapable of acquiring the movement states and the operation states fromthe extension message, thus facilitating estimation of the state ofawareness of the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 that aretransmission sources.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an attention calling transmissiondecision table. In Preferred Embodiment 2, the vehicle informationcontroller 8 controls the transmission of the attention callinginformation on the basis of, for example, the attention callingtransmission decision table illustrated in FIG. 9.

For example, the vehicle information controller 8, when there is a highrisk of collision or contact on the basis of FIG. 9, determines whetheror not to request the communication unit 6 to transmit the attentioncalling information, on the basis of the movement states and theoperation states received from the communication apparatuses 100 and 200that are transmission sources. Here, the table is referred to as an“attention calling transmission decision table.” That is, when it isdetermined, by the risk determination unit 82, that there is a high riskof contact or collision, the communication control determination unit 84of the vehicle information controller 8 determines whether or not totransmit the attention calling information via the communication unit 6to the corresponding communication apparatus 100, 200 that is thetransmission source.

For example, consider the case where there is a high risk of collisionor contact or where the user is highly likely to not notice such acollision immediately before the collision. When the terminalinformation indicating that the user is on a call while walking isreceived from a communication apparatus 100, 200 that is a transmissionsource, it is estimated that the user is not paying attention to thesurroundings, and therefore the attention calling information istransmitted to the communication apparatus 100, 200, which is thetransmission source, as illustrated in FIG. 9. On the other hand, whenthe user is not performing a screen operation while running or bicyclingand the screen is OFF, it is estimated that the user is paying attentionto the surroundings, and the attention calling information is nottransmitted. In the other movement states and the other operationstates, the transmission of information is determined as illustrated inFIG. 9.

Operations will now be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of operationsperformed by the vehicle information controller 8 of the communicationapparatus 200 according to Preferred Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention.

The information management unit 81 of the vehicle information controller8 determines whether or not information has been received from thecommunication unit 6 after startup (step ST201). That is, whether or notthe terminal information has been received from a peripheralcommunication apparatus 100 or 200 is determined.

When no information has been received in step ST201 (“NO” in stepST201), the information management unit 81 of the vehicle informationcontroller 8 repeats the processing in step ST201 and continues to waitfor the reception of information. When information has been received instep ST201 (“YES” in step ST201), the risk determination unit 82 of thevehicle information controller 8 determines, on the basis of thereceived terminal information (e.g., movement information and operationstate) and its own terminal information (e.g., movement information),whether there is the risk of contact or collision (step ST203). Notethat a method similar to that in the step ST109 of FIG. 7 may be usedfor the calculation and estimation of the risk of contact or collision,but the present invention is not limited to this example.

When it is determined in step ST203 that there is no risk (“NO” in stepST203), the procedure returns to step ST201 and waits for the receptionof information. When it is determined in step ST203 that there is a risk(“YES” in step ST203), the display control determination unit 83determines whether or not to display the attention calling information,on the basis of the display decision table illustrated in FIG. 2 (stepST204). More specifically, the display control determination unit 83receives input of the movement state and the operation state that theinformation management unit 81 has received from the communicationapparatus 100, 200 in step ST201, and determines, on the basis of thedisplay decision table in FIG. 2, whether or not to display theattention calling information on the display unit 5.

When it is determined not to display the attention calling informationin step ST204 (“NO” in step ST204), the procedure returns to step ST201and waits for the reception of information. When it is determined todisplay the attention calling information in step ST204 (“YES” in stepST204), the display control determination unit 83 requests the displayunit 5 to display the attention calling information (step ST205).

Moreover, the communication control determination unit 84 of the vehicleinformation controller 8 determines whether or not to transmit theattention calling information, on the basis of the attention callingtransmission decision table illustrated in FIG. 9 (step ST206). Morespecifically, the communication control determination unit 84 receivesinput of the movement state and the operation state that the informationmanagement unit 81 has received via the communication unit 6 from thecommunication apparatus 100 in step ST201, and determines whether or notto transmit the attention calling information to the communication unit6, on the basis of the attention calling transmission decision table inFIG. 9.

When it is determined not to transmit the attention calling informationin step ST206 (“NO” in step ST206), the procedure returns to step ST201and waits for the reception of information. When it is determined totransmit the attention calling information in step ST206 (“YES” in stepST206), the communication control determination unit 84 requests thecommunication unit 6 to transmit the information (step ST207).

Thereafter, the procedure returns to step ST201 and waits for thereception of the next information. While in FIG. 10, the type ofinformation to be displayed and the transmission of the attentioncalling information are determined after display has been determined,the order of processing is not limited to this example.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of operations performed by the terminalinformation controller 7 of a communication apparatus 100 according toPreferred Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 11 illustrates thesame processing as in the flowchart of FIG. 7 for the terminalinformation controller 7 of Preferred Embodiment 1, but differs fromPreferred Embodiment 1 in that step ST112 is performed after step ST102.Here, only the difference (step ST112) will be described in detail.

In step ST112, the information management unit 71 of the terminalinformation controller 7 determines whether or not the terminalinformation received from another communication apparatus (operationassistance apparatus) 200 includes attention calling information (stepST112). When the attention calling information is included (“YES” instep ST112), the procedure proceeds to step ST111 to perform attentioncalling display, and when the attention calling information is notincluded (“NO” in step ST112), the procedure proceeds to step ST109 asin Preferred Embodiment 1.

While in FIG. 11, whether the attention calling information has beenreceived is determined after the reception of the terminal information,the order of processing is not limited to this example. While in stepST112 of FIG. 11, the received attention calling information isdisplayed, whether or not to display the information may be determinedafter the processing from steps ST109 to ST110 has ended.

While, as described with reference to FIG. 10, Preferred Embodiment 2shows an example in which the vehicle information controller 8 of thecommunication apparatus 200 transmits the attention calling informationto an inattentive user, the information does not necessarily have to betransmitted. Also, while Preferred Embodiment 2 shows an example inwhich the vehicle information controller 8 uses the tables illustratedin FIGS. 2, 6, and 9, the processing may be implemented by using one ofthe tables, or by using a combination of a plurality of the tables.

While ETSI and SAE are taken as examples of the message formats handledby the communication unit 6 of Preferred Embodiment 2, the presentinvention is not limited to this example. The communication unit 6 mayuse Japanese message formats, or message formats that will be newlydefined in the future, and the present invention is not limited to theseexamples as long as the message includes a reserved partition orextended partition.

While in the above example, the communication apparatus 200 of PreferredEmbodiment 2 transmits the attention calling information to thecommunication apparatuses 100, a configuration is also possible in whichthe communication apparatus 200 transmits attention calling informationto a peripheral communication apparatus 200, and the vehicle informationcontroller 8 that has received the information displays the attentioncalling information. Alternatively, the attention calling informationmay be transmitted from the communication apparatuses 100 to thecommunication apparatus 200.

As described above, according to Preferred Embodiment 2, display ofcalling attention to dangers and the contents to be displayed can becontrolled on the basis of the terminal information received from thecommunication apparatuses 100 and 200 held by the users such aspedestrians or bicyclists. It is thus possible, in advance, to detectusers who have been prone to delayed risk detection, and it can beexpected to reduce accidents caused by such drivers.

Also, in Preferred Embodiment 2, it is possible to call the attention ofdrivers to jaywalking pedestrians and bicyclists and the like (thatsuddenly appear on the road), which have been unavoidable, assist theusers in preventing delayed risk detection, and transmit the attentioncalling to inattentive users in the surrounding area. It is thusexpected to reduce accidents that cause injury to the users.

Moreover, in Preferred Embodiment 2, the movement state and theoperation state are additionally stored in the reserved partition orextended partition in an internationally standardized message format.This allows the reception-side communication apparatus 100 to easilyestimate the state of awareness of the user while maintainingcompatibility between existing ITS systems and messages, thus reducingchanges to the existing systems.

While the communication apparatus 200 of Preferred Embodiment 2 isconfigured as illustrated in FIG. 8, the configuration of thecommunication apparatus 200 need only include the sensor 1, thecommunication unit 6, and the vehicle information controller 8. Thedisplay unit 5 may be provided within the communication apparatus 200,or may be provided outside the communication apparatus 200, as inPreferred Embodiment 1.

Preferred Embodiment 3

While in Preferred Embodiment 1, the movement state of the communicationapparatus 100 is estimated within the communication apparatus 100 heldby the user, Preferred Embodiment 3 describes a preferred embodiment inwhich the movement state of the communication apparatus 100 is estimatedin a cloud server.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an operation assistance system thatincludes a communication apparatus 101 according to Preferred Embodiment3 of the present invention. Note that the communication apparatus 101 ofPreferred Embodiment 3 is mounted to a moving object as in PreferredEmbodiment 1, and is assumed to be mounted principally to a mobileterminal in the following description. Constituent elements that aresimilar to those described in Preferred Embodiment 1 are given the samereference numerals, and redundant detailed descriptions thereof areomitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the operation assistance system according toPreferred Embodiment 3 includes the communication apparatus 101, acommunication network 300, and a cloud server 400. The communicationapparatus 101 and the cloud server 400 are connected to each other viathe communication network 300.

The communication apparatus 101 of Preferred Embodiment 3 differs fromthe communication apparatus 100 of Preferred Embodiment 1 in that themovement-state estimation unit 2 is mounted to the cloud server 400. Thesystem includes at least one communication apparatus 101 and may includea plurality of communication apparatuses 101. Also, the system mayinclude one cloud server 400 or a plurality of cloud servers 400. Whilethe present preferred embodiment uses the cloud server, ageneral-purpose calculating machine such as a central control server ora calculator server may be used, instead of the cloud server.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the communication apparatus 101 includes asensor 1, a user operation I/F unit 3, an operation-state managementunit 4, a display unit 5, a communication unit 6, and a terminalinformation controller 7. Note that constituent elements that aresimilar to those of the communication apparatus 100 described withreference to FIG. 1 in Preferred Embodiment 1 are given the samereference numerals, and redundant descriptions thereof are omitted. Thecommunication apparatus 101 in FIG. 12 differs from the communicationapparatus 100 in FIG. 1 only in that the movement-state estimation unit2 is not included. Note that the information management unit 71 of thecommunication apparatus 101 does not manage the movement state.

The terminal information controller 7 of the communication apparatus 101transmits, in addition to the terminal information, sensing informationthat includes the movement information detected by the sensor 1 to thecloud server 400 via the communication unit 6. The terminal informationcontroller 7 also receives the movement state from the cloud server 400via the communication unit 6.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the cloud server 400 includes themovement-state estimation unit 2, a communication unit 6, and aterminal-information management unit 9.

The terminal-information management unit 9 of the cloud server 400functions as a database that stores the sensing information and theterminal information that are received from a plurality of communicationapparatuses 101 via the communication unit 6. The terminal-informationmanagement unit 9 also stores reference patterns for use in estimatingthe movement state.

Note that the terminal-information management unit 9 is configured as,for example, a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk or asolid-state drive (SSD). The data format for storage may be XML(extensible Markup Language), or may use a database such as MySQL or MIB(Management Information Base), but the present invention is not limitedto this example.

The communication unit 6 of the cloud server 400 receives the sensinginformation from the communication apparatus 101 and transmits theresult of estimation of the movement state to the communicationapparatus 101.

The movement-state estimation unit 2 of the cloud server 400 estimatesthe movement states of the communication apparatuses 101 that aretransmission sources of the stored sensing information, on the basis ofthe sensing information stored in the terminal-information managementunit 9, and notifies the estimation results to the communicationapparatuses 101 that are the transmission sources via the communicationunit 6.

Note that the movement-state estimation unit 2 may estimate the movementstates directly from the sensing information stored in theterminal-information management unit 9, or may estimate the movementstates by comparison with the reference patterns, or may use othermethods of estimation.

The terminal information controller 7 of the communication apparatus 101receives information from the operation-state management unit 4, thecommunication unit 6, and the movement-state estimation unit 2 of thecloud server 400, and performs operations as described with reference toFIG. 7 in Preferred Embodiment 1. In Preferred Embodiment 1, informationis acquired from the movement-state estimation unit 2 of thecommunication apparatus 100, and Preferred Embodiment 3 differs fromPreferred Embodiment 1 only in that information is acquired from themovement-state estimation unit 2 of the cloud server 400 (step ST101).The other processing is the same as the processing described inPreferred Embodiment 1, and therefore detailed descriptions thereof areomitted.

While in Preferred Embodiment 3, the risk determination unit 72 of theterminal information controller 7 calculates the possibility of contactor collision within the communication apparatus 101, the presentinvention is not limited to this example, and the cloud server 400 maycalculate the possibility of contact or collision (determine whether theattention calling state has occurred) on the basis of a large number ofcollected pieces of terminal information (terminal information of thecommunication apparatus and terminal information of other communicationapparatuses). The cloud server 400 may determine the risk by calculatingthe positional relationship and relative speeds of the respectivecommunication apparatuses 101 on the basis of the collected terminalinformation and transmit the attention calling information and the abovemovement state to the communication apparatuses 101, and thecommunication apparatus 101 may, for example, control the attentioncalling information to be displayed on its own apparatus on the basis ofthe table in FIG. 6 that uses the movement state and the operationstate.

While in Preferred Embodiment 3, the terminal-information managementunit 9 stores the sensing information and the terminal information, thepresent invention is not limited to this example. Theterminal-information management unit 9 may store either the sensinginformation or the terminal information, or may store other information.

As described above, according to Preferred Embodiment 3, the cloudserver has centralized control over estimation of the movement state andestimation of the risk. It can thus be expected to reduce the processingload on the communication apparatus 101 and enable high-precisionestimation of the movement state using a large number of pieces ofsensing information.

In Preferred Embodiment 3, the cloud server collectively performsprocessing and is thus able to estimate risks even between communicationapparatuses to which radio waves cannot reach directly. This enablesearly determination of whether or not to call the attention of users.

Preferred Embodiment 4

While in Preferred Embodiment 1, display and communication, for example,is controlled on the basis of the movement state and the operationstate, Preferred Embodiment 4 describes a preferred embodiment in whichmap information is linked with processing, in addition to the movementstate and the operation state.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 102according to Preferred Embodiment 4 of the present invention. Note thatthe communication apparatus 102 of Preferred Embodiment 4 is mounted toa moving object, and is assumed to be mounted principally to a mobileterminal in the following description. In FIG. 13, constituent elementsthat are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 1 inPreferred Embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, andredundant detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the communication apparatus 102 according toPreferred Embodiment 4 of the present invention differs from thecommunication apparatus 100 described with reference to FIG. 1 inPreferred Embodiment 1 only in that a map information storage (mapinformation management unit) 10 is further provided.

The map information storage 10 manages, as map information, informationsuch as road shape, road type (e.g., highways, general roads, sidewalks,or cycling roads), road width, the number of lanes, road gradients, roadsigns, the curvatures of curves, and landmarks indicating distinctivebuildings, along with latitude, longitude, and altitude. The mapinformation storage 10 outputs map information concerning theperipheries of the current location to the terminal informationcontroller 7.

The map information storage 10 is configured as, for example, alarge-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk or an SSD. The dataformat for storage may be XML format, or may use a database such asMySQL, SQLite, or MIB, but the present invention is not limited to theseexamples.

Operations will now be described. The operations performed by thecommunication apparatus 102 according to Preferred Embodiment 4 arebasically similar to those of the communication apparatus 100 accordingto Preferred Embodiment 1, and differs in the content of operationsperformed by the terminal information controller 7. Hereinafter,redundant descriptions of operations of the communication apparatus 102that are similar to those of the communication apparatus 100 describedin Preferred Embodiment 1 are omitted, and only differences will bedescribed.

In Preferred Embodiment 4, the terminal information controller 7 makes asophisticated determination as to the need to call the attention of theuser by determining the risk according to the place where the user ofthe communication apparatus 102 is situated, such as sidewalks,roadways, crosswalks, pedestrian subways, stations, his or her ownhouse, indoors or outdoors, road widths, roadsides, near intersections,alleys, and locations where the user is highly unlikely to notice animpending collision, for example, until immediately before thecollision. That is, in Preferred Embodiment 4, the terminal informationcontroller 7 of the communication apparatus 102 takes into considerationthe map information managed by the map information storage 10 whenmaking a determination regarding control that uses the tablesillustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6. At this time, the processing described withreference to FIGS. 2 to 6 may be controlled according to whether thecurrent location of the user is a place where a vehicle can be driven,may be controlled according to visibility conditions, or may becontrolled according to the occurrences of past accidents, but thepresent invention is not limited to these examples.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a table for use in control based onthe movement state estimated by the movement-state estimation unit 2 andthe map information stored in the map information storage 10 accordingto Preferred Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

For example, when the display control determination unit 73 of theterminal information controller 7 determines on the basis of the displaydecision table in FIG. 2 whether or not to display information (stepST110 in FIG. 7), the display control determination unit 73 uses thetable in FIG. 14 as a basis for determination of display control, inaddition to the display decision table in FIG. 2.

More specifically, in the case where the user is performing a screenoperation while walking, the attention calling information based on FIG.2 is displayed in Preferred Embodiment 1, but in Preferred Embodiment 4,further determination based on FIG. 14 is made, and the attentioncalling information is not displayed when the user is in a lessdangerous area such as a sidewalk, a station, or indoors.

Moreover, for example, when the communication control determination unit74 of the terminal information controller 7 deter mines on the basis ofthe transmission decision table in FIG. 3 whether or not to transmitinformation (step ST104 in FIG. 7), the communication controldetermination unit 74 uses the table in FIG. 14 as a basis fordetermination of transmission control, in addition to the transmissiondecision table in FIG. 3.

More specifically, in the case where the user is walking, running,bicycling, or riding a motorcycle, the terminal information istransmitted, irrespective of the presence or absence of a screenoperation, to the surrounding area on the basis of FIG. 3 in PreferredEmbodiment 1, but in Preferred Embodiment 4, further determination basedon FIG. 14 is made, and the information is transmitted only when theuser is in a dangerous place such as a sidewalk, a roadway, or anintersection.

While the above description takes the example of the processing in stepsST104 and ST110 of FIG. 7, the terminal information controller 7 furtheruses a table such as illustrated in FIG. 14 that includes preset controlcontents based on the map information as a basis in the controldetermination processing in FIG. 7 that uses FIGS. 2 to 6, and alsolinks the map information with the other movement states and operationstates to make appropriate determinations according to the situation.

In this way, in Preferred Embodiment 4, the terminal informationcontroller 7 uses a table such as illustrated in FIG. 14, in addition tothe tables as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6, as a basis to control ON/OFFof attention calling display, control the transmission of the terminalinformation and the transmission cycle, control ON/OFF of thecommunication hardware, and switch the type of the attention callinginformation.

In FIG. 14, the states stored in the map information storage 10 areassumed to include whether the road type is a pedestrian scramble,whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors, and whether theapparatus is located inside or outside of the line of sight, but thepresent invention is not limited to these examples.

While in the present example, the communication apparatus 102 managesthe map information within the communication apparatus 102 to call theattention of users or determine whether or not to perform transmission,Preferred Embodiment 4 may be applied to Preferred Embodiment 3, inwhich case the cloud server 400 further includes the map informationstorage 10 to manage the map information, and the communicationapparatus 102 acquires the map information to perform processing andmake determination. Alternatively, the cloud server 400 that manages themap information may be configured to perform risk determinations.

For example, the cloud server 400 may predict a future position on thebasis of the transition of past positions and the travel speed andfurther take the map information into consideration to determine that,when the apparatus is located on a sidewalk or inside of the line ofsight, there is a low risk and the transmission of the attention callinginformation is unnecessary. In this way, more sophisticated riskdetermination is possible with the cloud server 400.

Preferred Embodiment 4 may also be applied to Preferred Embodiment 2, inwhich case the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 of PreferredEmbodiment 2 further include the map information storage 10.

The communication apparatus 102 may perform processing according to thesurrounding environment through map matching that is linked with the mapinformation, even when the position of the terminal is not sufficientlyaccurate.

As described above, according to Preferred Embodiment 4, the mapinformation is linked with risk estimation. It is thus possible to moreappropriately call the attention of users, transmit the terminalinformation, enable the wireless function, change the transmissioncycle, and change the type of the attention calling information. Thus,as compared with Preferred Embodiment 1, it can be expected to improveuser acceptability, suppress unnecessary transmission of radio waves,and implement power savings on the communication apparatuses 100 and200.

In Preferred Embodiment 4, the surrounding environment of the user canbe estimated by using the map information, even if the accuracy of theposition information is low. Thus, effective control can be expected atthe time of providing information or in transmission processing, forexample.

Preferred Embodiment 5

While in Preferred Embodiment 1, display and communication, for example,is controlled based on the movement state and the operation state,Preferred Embodiment 5 describes a preferred embodiment in whichpersonal characteristic information is linked with processing, inaddition to the movement state and the operation state.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 103according to Preferred Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Note thatthe communication apparatus 103 according to Preferred Embodiment 5 ismounted to a moving object. In FIG. 15, constituent elements that arethe same as those described with reference to FIG. 1 in PreferredEmbodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and redundantdetailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The communication apparatus 103 according to Preferred Embodiment 5 ofthe present invention differs from the communication apparatus 100described with reference to FIG. 1 in Preferred Embodiment 1 only inthat a personal characteristic management unit 11 is further included asillustrated in FIG. 15.

The personal characteristic management unit 11 manages personalcharacteristic information such as the age, gender, behavior patterns,and behavioral characteristics of the user of the communicationapparatus 103, and outputs the personal characteristic information tothe terminal information controller 7.

As the personal characteristics, the behavior patterns and thebehavioral characteristics may be managed in combination with the pasthistory, or repeated behavior or the like may be learned.

Operations will now be described. The operations performed by thecommunication apparatus 103 according to Preferred Embodiment 5 arebasically similar to those of the communication apparatus 100 accordingto Preferred Embodiment 1, but differ in the operations of the terminalinformation controller 7. Hereinafter, redundant descriptions ofoperations of the communication apparatus 103 that are similar to thoseof the communication apparatus 100 described in Preferred Embodiment 1are omitted, and only the difference will be described below.

The terminal information controller 7 of the communication apparatus 103makes a sophisticated determination of the need to call the attention ofusers by determining the risk according to the characteristics of theterminal holder, such as the age, gender, personality, behaviorpatterns, and behavioral characteristics of the user of thecommunication apparatus 103. That is, in Preferred Embodiment 5, theterminal information controller 7 of the communication apparatus 103takes into consideration the personal characteristic information managedby the personal characteristic management unit 11 to make adetermination for control that uses the tables in FIGS. 2 to 6. At thistime, the processing illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6 may be controlled byweighting according to the age such as children or elderly people, ormay be controlled according to the individual personality such as thelevel of cautiousness or adaptability, but the present invention is notlimited to these examples.

For example, in the case of determining whether or not to displayinformation on the basis of the display decision table in FIG. 2 (stepST110 in FIG. 7), the display control determination unit 73 of theterminal information controller 7 makes a determination for displaycontrol on the basis of the personal characteristic information managedby the personal characteristic management unit 11, in addition to thedisplay decision table in FIG. 2.

More specifically, when the user is performing a screen operation whilewalking, the attention calling information is displayed on the basis ofFIG. 2 in Preferred Embodiment 1. In Preferred Embodiment 5, thepersonal characteristic information is further used as a basis, and whenthe user is an elderly person, it is determined necessary to increasethe size of characters to be displayed for attention calling on thescreen or to increase the volume of audio to be output.

While the above description takes the example of the processing in stepST110 of FIG. 7, the terminal information controller 7 uses the personalcharacteristic information managed by the personal characteristicmanagement unit 11 as a basis in the control determination processing inFIG. 7 that uses FIGS. 2 to 6, and also links the personalcharacteristic information with the other movement states and operationstates to make appropriate determinations according to the situation.

While in the present example, the communication apparatus 103 managesthe personal characteristic information within the communicationapparatus 103 to call the attention of users or determine whether or notto perform transmission, Preferred Embodiment 5 may be applied toPreferred Embodiment 3, in which case the cloud server 400 includes thepersonal characteristic management unit 11 to manage the personalcharacteristic information, and the communication apparatus 103 acquiresthe personal characteristic information to perform processing and makedeterminations.

Alternatively, the cloud server 400 that manages the personalcharacteristic information may even perform risk determination. Forexample, when the personal characteristic information indicates that theuser is a child or elderly person, the cloud server 400 may determinethat there is a risk, or the cloud server 400 may determine the presenceof a risk on the basis of behavior characteristics such as crossingroads with no crosswalks or crossing intersections of alleys withoutslowing down the speed or looking left and right. In this way, moresophisticated risk determination is possible with the cloud server 400.

Preferred Embodiment 5 may also be applied to Preferred Embodiment 2, inwhich case the communication apparatuses 100 and 200 of PreferredEmbodiment 2 further include the personal characteristic management unit11. Preferred Embodiment 5 may also be applied to Preferred Embodiment4, in which case the communication apparatus 102 of Preferred Embodiment4 includes the personal characteristic management unit 11.

The personal characteristic information may be included in the terminalinformation and transmitted to other communication apparatuses 103. Thatis, the communication apparatus 103 may transmit the personalcharacteristic information to another peripheral communication apparatus103, and the other communication apparatus 103 that has received thepersonal characteristic information may use the received personalcharacteristic information to call the attention of users or determinewhether or not to perform transmission.

As described above, according to Preferred Embodiment 5, the personalcharacteristic information is linked with risk estimation. It is thuspossible to, according to the characteristics of the user, call theattention of users, transmit the terminal information, enable thewireless function, change the transmission cycle, and change the type ofthe attention calling information. Thus, it can be expected to improveuser acceptability, suppress unnecessary transmission of radio waves,and implement power savings on the communication apparatus 103.

Note that the present invention may be taken as a communicationapparatus that includes at least part of the above means. The presentinvention may also be taken as a communication apparatus that includesat least part of the above processing, or as a method for implementingsuch a method.

Note that the invention of the present application may freely combineeach preferred embodiment or may modify or omit arbitrary constituentelements of each preferred embodiment within the scope of the invention.

Each unit used for control by the communication apparatuses of PreferredEmbodiments 1 to 5 is implemented by program processing using a CPUbased on software.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a communicationapparatus according to each of Preferred Embodiments 1 to 5. Thiscommunication apparatus includes a receiver 31, a memory 32, a processor33 that includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), and adisplay apparatus 34. While in the present example, the communicationapparatus includes the display apparatus 34, the communication apparatusand the display apparatus 34 may be provided separately.

The receiver 31 corresponds to, for example, the sensor 1, the useroperation I/F unit 3, and the communication unit 6 in FIG. 1. Thedisplay apparatus 34 corresponds to, for example, the display unit 5 andthe communication unit 6 in FIG. 1. The movement-state estimation unit2, the operation-state management unit 4, and the terminal informationcontroller 7 (hereinafter, referred to as a “movement-state estimationunit 2, etc.”) are implemented as functions of the processor 33 by theprocessor 33 executing programs stored in storage apparatuses such asthe memory 32. The above functions may be implemented by the cooperationof a plurality of processors 33.

Note that, instead of using the movement-state estimation unit 2, etc.that are implemented by the processor 33 operating in accordance withsoftware programs, the communication apparatus may use themovement-state estimation unit 2, etc. that are implemented by a signalprocessing circuitry in which the operation of the processor 33 isimplemented by hardware electric circuits. The term “unit” may bereplaced by the term “processing circuitry” as the concept that combinesthe movement-state estimation unit 2, etc. that are implemented bysoftware and the movement-state estimation unit 2, etc. that areimplemented by hardware.

While the invention has been shown and described in detail, theforegoing description is in all aspects illustrative and notrestrictive. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications and variations can be devised without departing from thescope of the invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1: Sensor, 2: Movement-state estimation unit, 3: User operation I/Funit, 4: Operation-state management unit, 5: Display unit, 6:Communication unit, 7: Terminal information controller, 8: Vehicleinformation controller, 9: Terminal-information management unit, 10: Mapinformation storage, 11: Personal characteristic management unit, 71:Information management unit, 72: Risk determination unit, 73: Displaycontrol determination unit, 74: Communication control determinationunit, 81: Information management unit, 82: Risk determination unit, 83:Display control determination unit, 84: Communication controldetermination unit, 100 to 103, 200: Communication apparatus, 300:Communication network, 400: Cloud server

1. A communication apparatus for wirelessly communicating with anothermovable communication apparatus and being movable along with a movingobject, comprising: a movement-state estimation processing circuitrythat estimates a movement state of said moving object on the basis ofinformation that includes movement information of said communicationapparatus that is detected by a sensor that targets said communicationapparatus for detection; an operation-state management processingcircuitry that specifies an operation state of operations performed onsaid communication apparatus by a user, and manages the operation statethat includes a time elapsed after a latest operation was performed onsaid communication apparatus; a communication processing circuitry thattransmits terminal information that includes at least movementinformation of said communication apparatus to said anothercommunication apparatus, and receives another terminal information thatincludes at least movement information of said another communicationapparatus from said another communication apparatus; and a terminalinformation controller that controls transmission of said terminalinformation from said communication processing circuitry to said anothercommunication apparatus on the basis of said movement state estimated bysaid movement-state estimation processing circuitry and said operationstate managed by said operation-state management processing circuitry,and when it is determined on the basis of said terminal information andsaid another terminal information received by said communicationprocessing circuitry that an attention calling state has occurred,controls display information that causes a display to display attentioncalling information on the basis of said movement state and saidoperation state.
 2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said movement information of said communication apparatusincludes a position and speed of said communication apparatus or aposition history of said communication apparatus.
 3. The communicationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said terminal informationcontroller has said movement state and said operation state included insaid terminal information and transmits said termination information tosaid another communication apparatus.
 4. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein when a communication function of saidcommunication processing circuitry has been disabled by a user, saidterminal information controller controls enabling and disabling saidcommunication function on the basis of said movement state and saidoperation state.
 5. The communication apparatus according to claim 3,wherein said terminal information controller controls a transmissioncycle for use in transmitting said terminal information from saidcommunication processing circuitry to said another communicationapparatus, on the basis of said movement state and said operation state.6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidmovement state includes: when said moving object is a user, at least oneof states where the user is stationary, where the user is walking, wherethe user is running, and where the user is not holding saidcommunication apparatus; when said moving object is a bicycle, a statewhere the bicycle is ridden; when said moving object is an automobile, astate where the automobile is ridden or driven; when said moving objectis a bus, a state where the bus is ridden; and when said moving objectis a train, a state where the train is ridden, and said operation stateincludes: at least one of states where the user is on a call, where theuser is performing a screen operation, where the user is not performinga screen operation, where a predetermined period of time has not elapsedafter a screen operation, and where a predetermined period of time haselapsed after a screen operation.
 7. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein said terminal information controllertransmits said terminal information when said movement state is one ofthe states where the user is walking, where the user is running, andwhere the bicycle is ridden, and when said operation state is one of thestates where the user is on a call, where the user is performing ascreen operation, and where a predetermined period of time has notelapsed after a screen operation, and said terminal informationcontroller does not transmit said terminal information when saidmovement state is one of the states where the automobile is ridden,where the bus is ridden, and where the train is ridden, and when saidoperation state is one of the states where the user is not performing ascreen operation and where a predetermined period of time has elapsedafter a screen operation.
 8. The communication apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein said terminal information controller displays attentioncalling information on said display when said movement state is one ofthe states where the user is walking, where the user is running, andwhere the bicycle is ridden, and when said operation state is one of thestates where the user is on a call, where the user is performing ascreen operation, and where a predetermined period of time has notelapsed after a screen operation, and said terminal informationcontroller does not display attention calling information on saiddisplay when said movement state is one of the states where theautomobile is ridden, where the bus is ridden, and where the train isridden, and when said operation state is one of the states where theuser is not performing a screen operation and where a predeterminedperiod of time has elapsed after a screen operation.
 9. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a mapinformation management processing circuitry that manages mapinformation, wherein said terminal information controller controlstransmission of said terminal information from said communicationprocessing circuitry to said another communication apparatus on thebasis of said movement state, said operation state, and said mapinformation, and when it is determined on the basis of said terminalinformation and said another terminal information received by saidcommunication processing circuitry that an attention calling state hasoccurred, controls display information that causes said display todisplay attention calling information on the basis of said movementstate, said operation state, and said map information.
 10. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: apersonal characteristic management processing circuitry that managespersonal characteristic information, wherein said terminal informationcontroller controls transmission of said terminal information from saidcommunication processing circuitry to said another communicationapparatus on the basis of said movement state, said operation state, andsaid personal characteristic information, and when it is determined onthe basis of said terminal information and said another terminalinformation received by said communication processing circuitry that anattention calling state has occurred, controls display information thatcauses said display to display attention calling information on thebasis of said movement state, said operation state, and said personalcharacteristic information.
 11. A communication apparatus for wirelesslycommunicating with a cloud server capable of wireless communication withanother movable communication apparatus, and being movable along with amoving object, comprising: an operation-state management processingcircuitry that specifies an operation state of operations performed onsaid communication apparatus by a user and manages the operation state;communication processing circuitry that transmits terminal informationto said cloud server, said terminal information including movementinformation of said communication apparatus that is detected by a sensorthat targets said communication apparatus for detection, and when saidcloud server has determined that an attention calling state hasoccurred, on the basis of said terminal information that is receivedfrom said communication apparatus and other terminal information that isreceived from said another communication apparatus and includes movementinformation of said another communication apparatus, receives attentioncalling information and a movement state of said moving object from saidcloud server; and a terminal information controller that controlsdisplay information that causes a display to display said attentioncalling information on the basis of said movement state and saidoperation state.
 12. An operation assistance apparatus for a vehiclethat wirelessly communicates with a movable communication apparatus,comprising: a communication processing circuitry that receives movementinformation of said communication apparatus and an operation state ofoperations performed on said communication apparatus by a user, theoperation state including a time elapsed after a latest operation wasperformed on said communication apparatus; and a vehicle informationcontroller that calls attention of a driver of said vehicle when it isdetermined that an attention calling state has occurred, on the basis ofmovement information of said operation assistance apparatus that isdetected by a sensor that targets said operation assistance apparatusfor detection, and said movement information and said operation state ofsaid communication apparatus that are received by said communicationprocessing circuitry.
 13. An operation assistance system comprising: thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1; and an operationassistance apparatus that is used as said another communicationapparatus, said operation assistance apparatus for a vehicle thatwirelessly communicates with a movable communication apparatus,comprising: a communication processing circuitry that receives movementinformation of said communication apparatus and an operation state ofoperations performed on said communication apparatus by a user, theoperation state including a time elapsed after a latest operation wasperformed on said communication apparatus; and a vehicle informationcontroller that calls attention of a driver of said vehicle when it isdetermined that an attention calling state has occurred, on the basis ofmovement information of said operation assistance apparatus that isdetected by a sensor that targets said operation assistance apparatusfor detection, and said movement information and said operation state ofsaid communication apparatus that are received by said communicationprocessing circuitry.